Norman Lear Calls Trump The Middle Finger, Talks ‘Good Times’ Scandal In ‘Even This I Get To Experience’

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Television writer and producer veteran Norman Lear is legendary for more than 100 television shows he’s been apart of, including All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons and many more. The 93-year-old talks to the Tom Joyner Morning Show about once going broke, being on Richard Nixon’s enemies list and his memoir, Even This I Get To Experience.

Why John Amos and Esther Rolle felt so much responsibility with Good Times:

“They were carrying a lot of weight. They were actors but here they were not just actors, they were symbols. They were the first African-American parents on television and married couple. They felt more responsibility than was good for the show. They worried that this piece of behavior wasn’t good enough. In order to be honest and human we had to show frailty. It’s very difficult for them to show frailty when they were all alone…they were the black parents on television.”

On reality television:

“I can’t tell you a reality show I’ve seen.”

What he watches on television:

“Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and my all-time favorite South Park, Modern Family.”

On the GOP race:

“I felt soured. I think the American people have made Donald Trump the middle finger of their right hand.”